Jurist Construction of Amazon HQ in South Africa halted by court

[Dadparvar]

South Africa’s Western Cape Division of the High Court Wednesday halted the construction of Amazon’s new Africa headquarters and ordered the developer to consult with local indigenous people who say the site is on sacred land.

Judge Patricia Goliath ruled that Liesbeek Leisure Properties Trust (LLPT), the developer of the site, must cease construction immediately and undertake “proper and meaningful consultation” with the Khoi and San indigenous populations.

The ruling represents a victory for groups representing the descendants of South Africa’s earlier inhabitants, the Khoi and San, who have been campaigning for years to stop the $300 million River Club project.

The 37-acre site is spiritually significant and a symbol of resistance to the Khoi and San as it is where some of their people’s earliest resistance against European colonizers took place.

In her ruling, Goliath said:

This matter ultimately concerns the rights of indigenous peoples… The fundamental right to culture and heritage of indigenous groups, more particularly the Khoi and San First Nations Peoples, are under threat in absence of proper consultation.

The City of Cape Town had approved of the construction of the Amazon site in April 2021 describing the development as being a “significant boost to the Cape Town economy as the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown remains.”

Activism groups have since announced that they will now push for the whole project to be discarded. Tauriq Jenkins, spokesman for the Goringhaiconaa Khoi Khoin Traditional Indigenous Council also stated:

We are going to be launching a review of the entire development, including how the project was allowed to proceed against the City of Cape Town’s own environmental laws.

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